Pine Ridge Church (Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church) is a historic church in Pine Ridge, Mississippi, north of

Natchez Natchez may refer to: Places * Natchez, Alabama, United States * Natchez, Indiana, United States * Natchez, Louisiana, United States * Natchez, Mississippi, a city in southwestern Mississippi, United States * Grand Village of the Natchez, a site o ...

. The church was started by the Evangelist Rev James Smylie in 1807 as the Washington Presbyterian Church. Washington was that time the Territorial Capital of the old Southwest territory. In 1808 the church moved to a rural community and the name changed to Salem Church. It is the oldest

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

congregation in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

. In 1827 the name was changed to Pine Ridge Presbyterian Church. It was built in 1829 and added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1979. In 1908 a tornado destroyed the first building. Pine Ridge is a member of the

Presbyterian Church in America The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presb ...

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Mississippi Federal architecture in Mississippi Colonial Revival architecture in Mississippi Churches completed in 1829 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Presbyterian Church in America churches in Mississippi National Register of Historic Places in Natchez, Mississippi 1829 establishments in Mississippi {{Mississippi-church-stub